A Cursed Love
by Moeniagirl
Summary: Natalia Marin is offered the job to tour with the Molly Phillips Band and she is more than excited. She gets to escape her life for a couple of months but she falls for Carey, something an old family curse will not allow her to do so. So she must free h
1. A Whole New Beginning

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the So Weird TV show, it is all owned by Disney Channel. But I would like to own Eric Lively but that's whole other story. Anyways, don't sue thinking you'll be getting anything of value from this girl because well, I don't have anything of value. Unless you would like to be involved in one of my friend's money making schemes that never turn out. Oh well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. By the way, I only own Natalia Marin, her grandmother, her editor, and anyone else related to Sayer's Magazine or her alternate universe. I also am owner of Sayer's Magazine, so watch out if you use it.

-Thursday Afternoon 1 p.m.(Central Time) Dallas, TX-

-Natalia Marin's hotel room-

Natalia Marin felt like crap. No wait, she smelled like it too. She had just come back from an interview with country/pop star David Madelson in his ranch just outside Dallas. He had just recently made a splash on the pop scene once again after an absence of 5 years and she was grateful to be back in her hotel room.

After she had lost at the hands of a very playful calf and had landed in a pile of manure, she no longer felt she was needed at the interview. She had just finished with Madleson when the 6 month old calf charged at her and pushed her into a manure paddie. Madleson had just laughed and she had no other choice to do so. But now that she thought about it, it had been pretty funny.

Just as she was taking off her clothes to head into a hot and long bath, her cell phone rang. "Who in the heck could it be?" she murmured to herself, already annoyed that her bath had to wait. She crossed the hotel room to get her fuzzy robe and sit on the bed when the cell phone rang again, "Darn ring", she thought as the sound continue aggravating her.

She finally picked up the cell phone, only to be greeted by the booming voice of the editor-in-chief and one of her good friends, Kevin Marks. 

"Hey chica." he stated, as she could hear the click-clack of him type on his computer and mutter to another reporter who was obviously in the room. James, no doubt, she thought to herself.

"What's up Kev?", she asked as she took a bag where her dry cleaning had been brought in as it lay on the bed. She started stuffing the smelly clothes in the bag with her hands as she held the cell phone in place with her chin and shoulder.

"Nothing much, " he answered. Natalia already knew what that meant, that he wanted her to fill in for James on his next assignment. Must be something big, she thought. Kevin only did this when it was something big.

"Okay, Kev. I'm waiting," she stated. 

"Oh it's nothing really chica, just an interview and a couple of days on the Molly Phillips tour through the northwest."

"What?," said Natalia, practically yelling with joy and letting the bag and the clothes slip to the floor as she jumped up from the bed. The phone, of course, fell out of her reach and landed on the floor as she started yelping for joy.

"Hello? Hello? Nat? Are you still there?" asked a very preoccupied Kevin. He thought maybe her phone had landed somewhere or that Natalia was doing something else at the moment.

"Oh, sorry," answered Natalia sheepishly as she groped on the floor on her hands and knees after the phone.

She was finally able to answer the phone and repeated the same statement "Oh, sorry."

"So, as I was saying, I have this proposition for you. James can't do the story on Molly Phillips and since I see you really don't have a story lined up, I was thinking that you could do it. You'll meet Molly in Seattle and basically tour the entire northwest leg of her tour with her and the band. You'll get to hang out with them and I was thinking we could do like three or four stories following up her return to the music scene. What do you think?"

"What do I think? Kev, I love it. You know that she is like my favorite musician ever and you still have to ask and act so calmly? Come on, Kev, you'll know I'll do it. When do I start?"

"Well, her northwest leg starts Friday in Seattle, so you'd basically just email me the story you did with Madleson. You'd have to leave today. Don't worry, I already have your plane ticket bought, all you have to do is go to the Dallas International airport and be on the 5:30 flight number 216 on Northwest Airlines to Seattle, gate 34. What do you say?,"stated Kevin, "and you can have your grandma just send you some more luggage..." he added, to make the job of convincing her easier.

Who was he kidding, she thought, of course she say yes. All she had to do was inform her grandmother and let her know she'd be a bit longer in getting home.

"Of course" she reiterated. What was Kevin, deaf or something? "I'll finish up the Madleson story now and have it sent to you at the airport. Cool?"

"Yeah, chica. Yeah. Oh, by the way, Molly Phillips is going to call you to ask you when you get in. I got her to agree to pick you up from the airport. She probably wants to make a good impression."

"Oh my god Kevin" yelled Natalia. "You didn't?"

"I did Nat. So you'd better stick around for a while at the airport. Don't hail a cab or anything. I want you to participate in the whole Molly Phillips tour experience. This is definitely going in your first piece, right?"

"Of course, Kev. Of course," parroted Natalia. It's all she could really do without becoming a complete insane fan. She had loved Molly Phillips since she was a kid when her parents first started listening to her in the PBK Experience. Totally cool.

"Okay then Nat. See you in a month. Bye."

"Bye Kev. Say hi to James and Nicole for me, okay?"

"Yeah, I will."

Natalia hung up. She was completely on cloud nine until she realized she only had like two hours to get ready before she'd have to check out and head for the airport. She hurriedly called the front desk and asked if anyone could do her laundry and some dry cleaning before she left.

When that was done, she rushed into the shower and just quickly soaped herself up and washed her hair. So much for a long, luxurious bath, she thought.

She then rushed out, just as room service was taking a pile of dirty clothing she had put in a bag. She told the maid if they could have it done as soon as possible and she would, of course, tip them well.

The maid just smiled and nodded as Nat took some money out of her backpack with all her interviewing equipment and handed the maid $20. "Yes, of course," answered the maid as she left the room.

All Natalia had left to wear was a pair of black satin underclothes, some khaki, material pedal pushers, a black spaghetti-strap baby tee, and some very unconventional but dressy black slip ons. Something, she noticed at looking at the weather channel for Seattle's weather, she couldn't possibly wear over there. She'd pretty much hoped that a sweater she had packed with a pair jeans and her tennis shoes she had with her would suffice.

She quickly dried her hair and dressed herself, her long black hair accentuating the conservative colored ensemble. From the looks of it, it looked more like she was going to a jazz club or something than actually leaving Dallas in two hours with a deadline to meet.

Her long, black straight hair accentuated her darker skin tone. Being from a Mexican father and an Italian-Irish mother did help with her somewhat exotic features but didn't make her stand out more than anyone else.

At 5'5, she wasn't very tall but not short either. She liked her height, because it made clothes so easy to find, unlike her younger cousin, Sharon, who had to practically live at the Gap for kids. She just smiled to herself as she finished dressing and towel-dried her hair the best she could. She then crossed the room and got her laptop from its carry-on bag, turned it on, and opened up the Word program where she had her previous work and notes saved.

She then took out her notepad and tape recorder she had used with Madleson and looked at her corrected notes. As far as the notes were concerned, Madleson had taken a hiatus from the music scene to focus on his ranch and his family.

"How sweet," she thought, as she remembered how he had interacted with his two young kids. She sensed a close family, something that made her long for her parents. Her parents had died when she was a teenager and she had gone to live with her grandmother, Rose Marin after the car accident. Actually, her grandmother had moved to Seattle so she could finish her high school years there with all her friends. She was so grateful she had done so because things would've been harder if she had to have moved to New York City.

Her grandmother had supported her in need to become a reporter, a music reporter nonetheless, since her parents had died. But if truth be told, she had really become a reporter to try and find out what really happened when her parents had died. She quickly shook her head to stop thinking about that and noticed that she had been crying when she felt her moist face and that her notepad had traces of tears on it.

She rubbed the tears away and quickly got back to work. "So much to do," she said out loud, as she regained her composure and started typing the rest of the story.


	2. Molly's Big News

-Thursday Afternoon, 11 a.m.(Pacific Time)

-Molly Phillips Tour Bus-

-Somewhere between Bellevue and Seattle-

Meanwhile, things on the Molly Phillips tour band were getting kind of hectic. With room only for a certain amount of people (6) and with 9 people really expected to live on the bus, it was more than just an inconvenience. Things had started calmly enough, with Molly informing the group that not only where they going to pick up Fiona in Seattle from her Aunt Melinda, but that Clu was also flying in from Santa Cruz to tour with them for awhile.

But then things started getting more chaotic once she had gotten off the phone with Kevin Marks, editor-in-chief of Sayer's Magazine, and had informed the whole gang that they were also meeting somewhere else up, a reporter for that magazine and that she would be touring with them for their northwest leg.

The whole bus and its occupants broke into a huge bustling of emotion when Sayer's Magazine was mentioned, the fact that it could help catapult Molly's career clear on everyone's minds.

"That is so great" remarked Annie, jumping off from her seat at the table and running up to Molly to give her a hug. Her long blonde ponytail coming dangerously close to hitting Molly. Molly just flinched and laughed.

Jack was next, rushing to his mom to give her half-hug since Annie was taking Molly's right half. "That is fabulous mom It's going to be so great for your career"

"Yeah, I know Jack," laughed Molly as she held Annie in her arms as well as Jack. Her red-brown, recently bobbed hair smushed up against her face. 

From the back portion of the bus, Carey heard all the commotion and walked in just as Annie threw herself at Molly.

"What's going on," he asked, guitar still in hand since he had been strumming a couple of chords, working on a song he was writing. 

"Sayer's Magazine is going to interview Molly," answered Annie, as she let Molly go and turned around to Carey. 

"That is great Molly," he answered as he approached her and gave her a small hug.

"About time, don't you think Molly?" remarked Ned from behind Molly as he entered the bus. "Yeah, I agree," added Irene, as she stepped on the bus from the convenience store they had stopped at to get coffee and gas. 

She was juggling two cups of coffee, three hot chocolates and a cup of tea. Ned took the coffees from her as the kids got their drinks. Molly chose the chamomile tea and Ned and Irene took their coffees. 

"Okay gang," said Irene," don't mean to cut the congratulatory party short but everyone needs to get settled if we're ever going to make it to Seattle by nightfall."

"Okay mom," answered Carey. "I'll be in the back if anyone needs me." he stated as he held his hot chocolate in one hand and his guitar in the other. 

"Wait, don't go yet. I got something else to say," said Molly, stopping Carey in his tracks and making the rest of the group look up. "She'll also be staying with us the entire time, touring with us and basically learning the ropes about touring. So we might just run out of room here with Fi and Clu. Are you guys okay with that?"

"Okay with that? I don't care where I sleep as long as you're able to get some free publicity and much needed exposure," said Irene, making everyone turn their heads and stare.

"What?" she shrugged innocently, "Hey, if it's free, it's good."

"Spoken like a true publicist honey," said Ned as he came around and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "And I support ya. Okay gang, let's go."

With that, Carey started his trek back into his room and opened the door.

"Carey be careful," warned his mother,"Just don't spill it on the bus, unless you want to become the designated cleaning person."

"Yeah, okay," answered Carey as he entered the bedroom he shared with Jack and tripped over some shoes he had inadvertently left in his path. All the rest of the gang heard him say was "Whoa" before he regained his balance. Irene and Molly just cringed at the thought of a hot chocolate stained bedspread before they heard him say "Everything's okay, nothing spilled." He had almost spilled some of the hot chocolate but by some miracle he didn't.

Annie sat across from Jack as the tour bus pulled out of the parking lot and onto to the main road, a sign with Seattle 215 miles coasted by them as they sailed onto the highway. Ned hummed a song as he sipped his coffee and then placed it in the cup-holder. 

She sipped her hot chocolate as Irene and Molly sat across the aisle and started talking about all the changes they would have to accommodate since the venue had been changed. Thankfully, the fans had been informed and the amount of fans showing up wouldn't be greatly affected.

She started talking to Jack, asking him if he was excited about seeing Fi. "Yeah, I am. I've really missed her, you know," said as he sat across from her, gazing over his hot chocolate.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I mean, I don't have any brothers or sisters but whenever we leave somewhere, me and my mom and dad, I always have to leave some friends. But when I receive letters from them, it's a pretty cool feeling. But, I guess it's stronger between siblings."

"Well, yeah kind of. But believe me, when you have close friends like me and you not see each other for awhile, it's a lot of the same feelings," he said, as he looked up at Annie. Annie caught herself staring at Jack and quickly turned away. Immediately blushing and cursing herself for being so pale you could see it.

Jack just smiled to himself as he saw Annie get flustered. He had started noticing subtle differences in the way Annie directed herself at him and he found it kind of cute. To think, Annie had a crush on him. He, of course, wasn't going to embarrass her by letting on that he knew, even if he was the older brotherly type. He cared about her feelings too much to do that. That's also why he'd been reluctant for anyone to know that he and Gabe had broken up a couple of weeks ago. 

It had been a mutual thing, with both realizing that they were pretty young and that they had to date other people to get to know what they wanted. Now that she was no longer in danger of dying and remission had passed, he didn't want her to keep herself from being a teenager. He, on the other hand, loved being a teenager and as much as he cared for Gabe, he wasn't about to put his life on hold. He was tired of being responsible, he wanted to cut loose for awhile.

Annie noticed, out of the corner of her eye, Jack smile to himself as he took a drink of his hot chocolate and directed his gaze outside. She really didn't know when her feelings towards Jack had changed from brother-sister to boy-girl, all that she knew was that it had happened and it bothered her. She hated having to feel differently every time he entered the room, like a raging thunderstorm took hold of her insides. No doubt, Jack had started to notice, and that even bothered her more because she would feel horrible if he knew that she had crush on him.

Maybe it was the fact that he tried to disprove everything she saw that attracted her to him or maybe because he was so much fun to be around with when he wasn't teasing her. She kind of like when he teased her, though, she thought and smiled to herself as she sat back, facing Jack and took a sip of her hot chocolate. 

He was kind of cute, she thought, with dark hair, piercing blue eyes and a stubborn chin. And he was also a lot of fun to be around with, she reminded herself. Hopefully, with Fi on the bus, things could get back to normal and she would forget about Jack being cute and fun. She'd have to, he has a girlfriend.

Jack kept gazing out the window of the bus and noticed Annie turn around and face him as she took a sip of her hot chocolate. She did look kind of cute, he thought, with her long blonde hair in a ponytail, her cheeks pink from the cold, and her red sweater standing out against her pale skin. She wore blue jeans with snowflakes as decorations and a pair of black boots with multi-colored laces.

Who knew it would be so cold up here in Seattle in the beginning of August, but apparently it was. The rain that had started pelting the bus didn't exactly help the situation, he thought, and he turned around to face Annie.

"So, you want to play cards or some checkers? We still got a long way to go to get to Seattle."

"Sure," she answered, being happy to not be bored nor to having to deal with her feelings towards Jack. As Jack went looking for a deck of cards, Molly and Irene sat across from each other with a map of Seattle to see where the venue would be located. 

As Jack cut the deck, they all heard Carey yelp in frustration as a guitar string broke from his guitar. "Darn it" he yelled as he yelped in pain, apparently the string had also ricochet against his finger when it snapped.

"What do you think she's like?" asked Annie, speculating on how the journalist from Sayer's Magazine would be like. 

"I don't know," said Jack truthfully, "I guess she's got to like the same kind of music my mom likes, because she's going to interview her. I don't think they'd send someone who didn't care about my mom's music."

"True," said Annie, " but I was wondering if she was nice or not, what she's gonna look like. Things like that."

"Sorry, I don't think in those terms."

"Oh, come on Jack. You seriously don't wonder if she's pretty or not," Annie said, not knowing if Jack was pulling her leg.

"I'm not going to answer that," said Jack. "You've now hurt my male pride as a Phillips," he dramatized, raising his hand in a dramatic pose. Annie slugged him on the shoulder in response.

At that moment, Carey entered the kitchen, looking for a box of guitar string. "There's some over there," pointed Molly, looking up when he entered the room. "Behind the tape in the upper cabinet."

"Thanks Molly. Hey Dad, how long till we get to Seattle?" he asked as he walked up to the front of the bus and leaned over his father's shoulder. "Well, with this weather, probably three to four hours or so. Why?"

"Naw, just asking." answered Carey, as he turned around and headed back into his room. As he passed Annie and Jack, he was stopped by Annie as she asked him if he wondered what the journalist was going to look like.

"Well, now that I think about it, I haven't really thought about it," said Carey in his usual roundabout way. There was no question if he was related to Clu. 

"See, I told you all guys don't think on those terms," said Jack, mimicking Annie. 

Annie just made a face at Jack and said, "That's not what he means Jack."

"Yeah, whatever," he said as he started dealing out the cards.

"But if you need an answer," added Carey, "I'm hoping she's cute," he smiled mischievously And with that, Carey walked away to his room

"See, I told ya," said Annie. "Yeah, whatever," said Jack, "Now are you going to play or aren't ya?"

"Yeah, I will," said Annie as she picked up her cards. Good cards, she thought. Now what game are we playing?

All was quiet for the next few hours, except for when Carey grunted with frustration or when a guitar string broke. As for Annie and Jack, they really got into a game of old maid. Don't ask.

They had been touring non-stop for two months and this seemed to revive the spirit of the gang, as well as for the fact that Fiona would be coming back and Clu as well. The whole family group would be back, and that more than made the gang happy, the Sayer's interview was just icing on the cake. Chocolate, smooth icing, thought Molly.


	3. Fiona's one of many goodbyes

-Thursday afternoon, 12 p.m. (Pacific Time), Seattle, WA-

-Aunt Melinda's home-

Fiona was busily packing up her things. Her mother just called and she said that they'd be arriving in Seattle in two hours. She'd finally gotten her clothes out of the dryer and was busily folding them when in walked her twin cousins, Maggie and Melissa.

"Hey Fi. We just thought you'd want some help packing your stuff up," they said in unison as Fi finished folding her shirts.

"No thanks. I'll be done pretty soon," she stated and saw their crestfallen expressions. "We don't want you to go Fi," said Maggie. "We want you to stay. We like having a big sister."

"Well, I liked being your big sister but you see, now I think I'm ready to go back to school where I'm from and to spend more time with my mom and Jack. How would you feel if I said you couldn't live with your mom and dad for a whole year? Wouldn't you miss them a lot?"

"Umm, yeah. We would, I guess," answered Melissa as she kept her eyes facing the floor, her chin quivering as did her sister's. Fi had loved being around them for the past year, but she did miss her mom and Jack dearly and did want to be back home.

"Okay, listen you guys. How about we don't say goodbye? How about we say, see ya later. That wouldn't be really me saying goodbye, that be me just saying that I would drop by once in awhile. Whatda you say?" she asked as she walked around the be and kneeled in front of the girls. She moved their chins up so they could face her and she almost felt her heart break.

Their eyes were watering and both tried to keep their chins from quivering any longer, when both lunged themselves at Fi and wrapped their arms around her. Fi also started to feel like crying, something she had been avoiding to do so the goodbyes wouldn't be so painful.

As soon as the crying subsided, she broke herself from the embrace that Maggie and Melissa had her in and rubbed the tears from her eyes. "You know what?" she asked. "What," they said in unison, their voices quivering. "Maybe I do need some help," stated Fi, as both little girls dried their eyes with their t-shirts and looked up at Fi as she stood in front of them.

As they all headed towards Fi's suitcase, each took an article of clothing and started to place it in different places of the suitcase. Fiona just laughed as both Maggie and Melissa kept taking articles of clothing and placing it in the suitcase.

Soon they had finished packing Fi's suitcase, with a little help from Fi as to how clothes were to be organized in the suitcase, Fi also mentioned that she wouldn't be able to take all her belongings with her since the tour bus would be crowded and asked the girls if they each wanted something.

Maggie zeroed in on Fiona's inflatable green chair with the aliens covering it as Melissa zoomed in on Fi's stuffed alien doll. Who would've of guessed she thought? as she led the girls outside her room with their new presents. She headed back into her room, zipped up her suitcase and began trying to decide which things she could take with her on the bus. After all, she would sharing a room with Annie and wouldn't have a lot of room to herself.

"Hmm," she muttered as she walked around the room, her straight dark brown hair swaying down her back as she paced around her room. She placed a finger over her mouth and muttered, asking herself what would be more important to her.


	4. A Whole New Note

Thursday afternoon, 12:15 p.m. (Pacific Time)-

-Molly Phillips Tour Bus-

-Jack and Carey's Room-

Carey was sitting cross-legged, leaning against the bottom bunk of the twin bunks in the room. His bed to be exact. He was busy stringing is guitar yet once again. "Geez, what are these guitar string made of," he said, picking up the box of guitar string that Molly had given him. "They don't hold anything," he said, frustrated. Truth be told, Carey was actually more frustrated about how the song was coming along than stringing his guitar but it was getting dangerously close on who he could blame more. He hadn't been able to get pass the 2nd bar since before Molly had made the announcement that she was going to be 

interviewed by Sayer's Magazine.

He'd inwardly thanked god when she had done so. It had given him a break from the balking task of finishing the song. But once the moment had passed, he had to get back to finishing the song. He had promised he'd have it finished for tomorrow's set but the way things were looking, he clearly doubted if he'd even have the second bar done by tomorrow.

He gave up as he finished stringing his guitar and placed it on the bed next to him. He just stared at the notes he had written on the liner bars and groaned with inner frustration. So much with becoming a songwriter, he thought. He even re-read the lyrics he had written.

She smiles at the world

Keeping things insight

She only has to face

The inner strife

She has endured

As oceans turn 

To inner surf

Okay, so it was a bit corny but he was working on it. So that at least that made him feel better. At least for a minute anyways. 

He decided he needed a break, to at least let his brain relax. He had been working on the song for a whole week and he needed some major relaxation. He hadn't been able to sleep all week, driving poor Jack crazy. He smiled at himself, as he remembered how annoyed Jack had been last night when the muse had struck him and he had felt the need to continue writing the song. It had been around 2 a.m. and Jack had practically creamed him in the pillow fight that ensued, which ended with Molly coming in and asking what all the racquet was about. 

That had made Carey get some sleep since the moment had passed for his creative flow to continue. So he'd just given up and settled in his bunk bed. The morning hadn't been any better, with him waking up late and almost missing breakfast, his favorite meal of the day if it weren't for lunch or dinner. Which reminded him, when were they going to stop for lunch.

He started to rise from the floor when the bus came to a slow and steady stop. "Hmm, good. Dad didn't forget about lunch," he said as he bounded out of the room and headed for the kitchen.

There were Annie and Jack at the table, trying to decide what they wanted to eat from the Burger Hut as his dad tried to decide what everyone else was saying. 

"I want a Super large Burger Bale without onions," said Annie.

"Make that two," said Jack, as he looked at Annie. She just blushed. Wait a minute, thought Carey, she'd been doing that a lot lately. He may have been too involved in writing his song but he wasn't dead. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that Annie had a crush on Jack. He just smiled at himself.

"I'd like some nachos with lots of cheese," said Molly from her spot in the sofa across from Jack and Annie. "And three cokes, and two Sprites."

"Hey Carey," said Jack. "What do you want to eat? We haven't finished taking the orders yet."

"Yeah Carey, hurry up. From what I can see, we got the lunch hour traffic here. Try driving with a big tour bus through the drive-thru in this town," said Ned, jokingly.

"Yeah Carey. What'd you like," said his mom.

"Umm, I'd like a Super Cheeseburger with the works and some Hawaiian fries."

"Eww, Carey," said Annie, making a disgusted face. "I didn't know anyone actually liked those things. I thought they were made to torture uncooperative witnesses."

"Very funny Annie," cracked Carey as he headed towards the front of the bus to help his dad with the order.

Once the orders had been taken and done, Ned got on the interstate as everyone got their orders and dug into them. Carey sat next to Annie and started chowing down. 

"Hmm, yeah..... good fries....," he said as he saw Annie's face. He loved teasing her. "They're so good," he taunted, fishing the fries in front of her.

Jack just laughed and kept on eating while Molly and Irene took a break from business to eat. Next thing they saw was a sign to Seattle saying "Seattle, 80 miles."

Good, thought Jack, we're almost there. 

Carey's break was interrupted when Annie asked him how his song was coming along. "Let's just say, If I died a hundred years from now, I doubt the song would be done."

At this Molly looked up. "Having trouble with your song, Carey?"

"Yeah Molly, I can't seem to get past the second bar. I don't think I'll have it ready for tomorrow."

"Why don't you show it to me and see if we can make any sense out of it."

"Well, yeah. Thanks Molly."

"No problem Carey," she said, "I know what it's like when you get songwriter's block. We'll just look at it once we're done with lunch."

"Okay."

With that, Carey inwardly felt a sigh a relief. At least he wouldn't be alone with the song anymore.


	5. An Expected and Unexpected Call

-Thursday afternoon, 2:45 p.m.(Central Time), Dallas, TX-

-Natalia's hotel room-

As Natalia finished getting ready pulling on a pair of jeans and a pink sweater she had brought with her, her cell phone rang again. She kind of already knew who it was. "Hi grandma," she said, as she held her cell phone, which she had left on the bed charging and had rushed to get it from the bathroom.

This is all before her grandmother had said anything and she hadn't even looked at her Caller ID. "Natalia," said her prim and proper grandmother, or at least that's what she sounded.

"What is this that I hear that you're not coming back home?" she asked, her tone a bit questioning and a bit scolding. Natalia just smiled at herself. Her grandmother was a great person and if anyone else had answered the phone, they would of said her grandmother was mean. She really wasn't, she just worried about her. After all, she was her only grandchild.

"Well, Kevin needs me to do a story in Seattle and it's with, you'll never guess? Molly Phillips" she said, her voice taking a high-pitched yelp.

"Interesting Natalia. Yes, sweetheart. I heard you the first time you said it," said her grandmother as Natalia kept chanting the name, unbeknownst to herself.

Her grandmother cringed on the other side of the line. She also smiled at herself. It was about time Natalia had a change of scenery again and she had practically been working her butt of trying to meet deadlines for the magazine. She was, after all, the star of Sayer's Magazine.

At 5'4 inches, she was a bit shorter than Natalia and didn't really look anything like her. The only features they shared were their black hair and strong noses, something her son had inherited and had given to his only daughter.

She was not matronly, still able to make a few heads turn as she walked down the street. Please, she was only 56 years old, not an old maid. She had raised Natalia since Nat was 14 years old, when both her parents died in a car accident. She had cried over the loss of her son, Michael, but had been more than overjoyed at raising his daughter.

"Well, then. I guess you'll need more clothes then. Right?" questioned her grandmother, as Natalia stopped chanting Molly Phillips' name and excused herself for acting like she had.

"Yes, grandmother, I will. I only bought a shoulder bag. I only thought I was going to be away for a week at the most," said Natalia. She did feel bad that she wouldn't be seeing her grandmother for another month and wanted to reassure her grandmother that she would be missed.

"Sorry grams that I can't be there for Aunt Matilda's birthday party. You know I would've never missed it for the world."

"Oh, por favor, your Aunt Matilda won't mind and if she does, I'll set her straight. You just go have fun. You need to have some time to forget about all the things you have here, especially of Jackson. Okay?" said her grandmother. 

Natalia felt her grandmother always knew what to say in every situation and she was very thankful for that. 

"Thanks grams. I love you. Now about my clothes being sent, I'll just have to call you from where we'll be staying and you can send them later today. I think the tour will be in Seattle for at least a couple of days. Okay?"

"Yes child. That's fine. Now be good but above all, enjoy yourself mija. Okay?"said her grandmother, worried that her granddaughter would feel a bit too guilty and would want to come home.

"Thanks grams. Love ya," said Natalia. "Bye."

"Bye sweetie."

And they both hung up. Natalia put her phone back on the charger again and turned around to face her laptop. She had finally been able to put some kind of ending to the article and had been looking for any odd word conjunctions or gibberishy sentences.

The maid had come in about half an our after she'd given her the clothes, and had all of Natalia's things washed and pressed. They were so clean, she swore she could smell sunshine beaming of them.

Anyways, she had thanked the maid and had started packing up her few articles of clothing into the duffel shoulder bag she had packed for the Dallas trip. She realized that maybe not having any warmer clothes would give her an excuse to go shopping in Seattle. Besides feeling she needed some kickass coffee from one of the coldest yet culturally active areas she loved visiting she also realized that her grandmother had been right, she did need a break from her job and her relationship problems.

She had just finished being able to convince Jackson to leave her alone, something she thought she'd never be able to do, and had also been able to get her life back in order. She'd only been out of college for about 6 months and had been at Sayer's Magazine for all of that time. She had interned there before they had offered to make her a music journalist and she loved it. The people were great, the atmosphere was great, and the opportunity to meet new musicians was amazing. All she'd wished for, only wishing that her parents should of gotten to see it too.

The momentary wave of sadness was washed away when she heard her cell phone ring again. She reached out with her left hand as she kept on reading her article.

"Grandma, what's wrong?" she asked, ready to listen to her grandmother speak. What she got was a big surprise.

"Hi baby," purred a slow and sensual voice on the other side. Natalia practically dropped the phone. JACKSON She thought. How the hell had he been able to get her new number. She'd had it changed once he had promised he'd stop bothering her because she knew he'd never be able to keep his end of the bargain. At least he'd been able to stay away from her apartment and her grandmother's home in Manhattan.

"What do you want Jackson?" she asked angrily, reacting to the surprise she'd first felt when she heard his voice.

"Just wondering when you're getting back from Dallas. I was expecting you back today but from the looks of it, I see that you won't be back. I was able to decipher, from what your grandmother is doing, that you'll be gone for awhile. Maybe I should be informed of where you are and I can always drop by," he stated, honey dripping off his every word.

That bastard, thought Natalia, he's been spying on grams. "Believe me Jackson, you won't find out. Besides, Grams would never tell you and you know it."

"I know, I just thought you would of gotten over our little "fight" by now and be ready to take me back. You know it's the right thing to do."

"You know I'll never take you back Jackson. To tell you the truth, I have no idea what I ever saw in you. Now you know things are over between us and you'd better stop staking out Grams and her house or I'll call the police. You know I will Jackson, so don't push it."

"Okay, okay," laughed Jackson haughtily on the other end of the line. "I'll leave your Grams out of it. Just remember, you know I'm right and you'll realize it soon enough babe. Bye," he said, smooching a kiss over the phone to Natalia as she hung up. 

"Gawd, the nerve of him," she yelled out loud. How dare he try to get back together with her after the hell he'd put her through, she thought, as she stood up from the bed and ran her hands through her blow-dried hair with frustration. He'd been doing very illegal things, things she'd been unaware of until a police officer, Daniel Davis, had come up to her and told her what her boyfriend really did for a living. Well, she'd dropped him right then and there and had helped the police prosecute him. Unfortunately, the D.A. hadn't been really able to prosecute him since there wasn't enough evidence but she'd basically kicked him out of her life. 

Apart from the fact that he was a criminal, he'd also gone around cheating on her to make matters worse. She'd found out when the D.A. had shown her some of the information that they had collected on him. She'd been angry and betrayed completely because he'd always told her she was the only one for him.

Thank god she had never slept with him. She'd always vowed that if she ever did sleep with any man, it would be with one that she loved and could see herself getting married to. So much for that theory, she thought. All her decorations about love had been thrown out once she'd found out that Jackson had been cheating on her. There was also the fact about the family curse that seemed to accompany the Marin family everywhere.

Not many people were aware that the Marin family was supposed to be unlucky in love. It wasn't exactly what you told all your friends 'Oh, yeah and by the way, I can never fall in love or I risk either getting him or me killed.' Only her grandmother had truly believed that, saying to Natalia that that was the reason why her grandfather had died.

Natalia herself had never believed that until her parents had been killed in that odd car accident and she started studying the family tree. What she found astounded her. She was actually surprised, at the end of her research, that the Marin family name had been able to carry-on the way it did. By her calculations, the entire family tree should've died out with her great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Alejandro Miguel Marin de los Santos.

He'd been able to outrun the curse with the birth of a son who had been illegitimately conceived when he had an affair with a noble woman. He never loved the noble woman and that had been what had allowed him to have the child. Recently, though, the Marin kin had been able to have children before they died, with her Aunt Matilda's son, George, having her cousins Robert and Analiese.

She'd been the only one grandchild her grandmother had been able to have and her grandmother guarded her like she was the most precious thing in the world.

She quickly brushed the phone call with Jackson away and concentrated on her article. Seemed good to her so she got ready to save it and send it to Kevin. She had specifically requested a room that had wireless internet connection and found out soon enough that it worked. Good, she thought, as she clicked send from her laptop. 

"There, all done," she said loudly with a groan and sigh of relief. She quickly disconnected her laptop from the charger and started packing all her things up in her carry-on suitcase for her laptop and electronic things. She felt so weighed down as she zipped it up so she placed it on top of the bed. When she was done, she looked all around the room. She had finished packing all her clothes just before her grandmother had called and zipped up the duffel bag as well.

She walked back into the bathroom to see if she hadn't forgotten any of her toiletries. "Nope," she muttered out loud. "Not a thing." The only thing left was to go downstairs and check out but she then remembered that Kevin had told her that Molly would call her to see when her plane came in so they'd go pick her up. She slowly smiled to herself and inwardly jumped for joy. She'd be touring with Molly Phillips for a month. A whole month. WOW

She started getting all her bags together and carrying them as she let herself out of her room and headed for the elevator. Once she reached the lobby, she checked out, turning in her key and paying her hotel room bill, along with room service with the magazine's credit card.

The concierge asked one of the bellhops to help her with her bags and to hail a cab for her. 

"Thank you," she said, as a young man in a bellhop uniform took her duffel bag and headed outside, opening the door for her. Soon she was in a cab, heading for the International Airport of Dallas, thinking of all the things she needed to buy while she waited for her luggage to arrive. 

That's when her cell phone rang. She scrounged for her phone in her suitcase and looked at her Caller ID, to see if it wasn't Jackson calling again. It wasn't. It was Molly Phillips. Her hands started to shake as she answered the phone.

"Hello?" she answered, her heart beating fast.


	6. Notes and Arrivals

-Thursday afternoon, 12:55 p.m. (Pacific Time)-

-Molly Phillips Tour Bus-

-Jack and Carey's Room-

As Carey sat on the bottom bunk, trying out the few suggestions that Molly had

offered concerning his song, Molly stood near the door making the phone call to Natalia Marin, the music journalist that would be touring with them for a while. 

She waited for it to ring, hoping she had copied the number down correctly. She had been so excited when Kevin Marks, the editor-in-chief of the magazine, had called that she wasn't sure that she had copied the right number. Thankfully Irene had been there and had taken over the negotiations.

She heard the other line pick up and a smooth voice answer the phone.

"Hello," said the voice.

"Yes, hello. This is Molly Phillips. I'm looking for Natalea Marrin, is it?"

"Yeah, Marin that's me. It's so good to hear from you. I was just waiting for your call but you'll have to excuse the static. I'm in a cab right now, heading for the airport."

"Well, that's exactly why I'm calling you. Just wanted to get all the flight information so we'd be able to pick you up from the airport when you arrive in Seattle."

"Yeah good, the flight number, let me see here," Natalia mumbled, wondering if Molly could tell that she was really nervous. She hoped she didn't, she didn't want to come off as some teeny bopper fan. 

Molly waited on the other end as she turned around and looked at Carey. He had stopped strumming his guitar and was looking at Molly, his gaze showing that he was intently paying attention, his head cocked to the side as he sharpened his hearing to hear whatever was being said on the other line.

Natalia could hear that the guitar strumming in the background she had heard when she'd picked up the phone had stopped. Molly had probably been in the middle of working on a song or something with some of the members of the band. To think, she'd interrupted band practice. Cool, she thought to herself as she searched for the flight information in her suitcase.

She was finally able to get the information. "Umm, here it is. The flight number is 216 at Northwest Airlines, landing in Seattle at 9:50 p.m. Seattle time. I have to change flights in Houston, so I should get there at that time. Let's see, the flight number is 216 on Northwest Airlines. Don't know which gate it will land in, though...." 

"Oh, okay that's fine," said Molly, cutting Natalia off. "We just needed to know what time you'd be here. But why so late? Oh, yeah, the whole time change," stated Molly, answering her own question. "Hmm, all right, Ned and I will go pick you up at the airport. He's a big guy, you can't miss him."

"Oh, okay, thanks. Well, I gotta go...I just arrived at the airport," said Natalia, as the cab driver pulled into the unloading zone and started opening her door. "Thanks again," she said.

"No problem... See ya later, bye," said Molly as she heard Natalia end the call. She was, no doubt, in a rush.

"Things arranged Molly?" asked Carey, as he noticed Molly click her cell phone shut.

"Yeah Carey. She'll be coming in tonight at the Seattle International airport. Gotta go tell your dad, he's the one that's going to go pick her up, with me of course." And with that, Molly headed out of the room and ran straight into Jack.

"Ooops, sorry mom."

"What's the rush Jack?" she asked.

"Oh, Ned said we'll be going into Seattle in an and a hour and a half. Just going to tell Carey."

"Oh, okay," she said, as Jack slid past her and she headed into the kitchen. There sat Annie, getting all the cards in their case and Irene was sitting on the sofa, finishing a couple of last minute things of where they were headed after Seattle.

I'll be seeing Fi soon, thought Molly, her heart filling with joy at the thought. As much as she loved Annie, no one could take the place of her Fiona and she was thrilled at the prospect. 

Ned just kept driving, seeing that the rain was slowly letting up as his windshield wipers started rubbing against the glass. What town was that, he asked as he noticed a sign getting closer and closer. Hmm, Thornton... So that meant he only had an hour and half or so left until Seattle. He smiled at himself slightly and started whistling.

Irene looked up from the map she had been observing and noticed her husband whistling. Ned only whistled when he was happy. That meant they were getting close to Seattle.

"Honey?" asked Irene as she directed her gaze at her husband.

"Yeah?" he answered in his gruff voice. 

"How long till we get to Seattle?"

"Hmm, in about an hour and a half, why?"

"Oh, just wondering."


	7. Hello and Unspoken Rules

-Thursday Afternoon 3:15 p.m. (Pacific Time) Seattle, WA-

-Aunt Melinda's House-

As Fi was showing the twins her new updated website on the paranormal, don't ask, the door bell rang. 

Aunt Melinda opened the door to find Molly at her doorstep, along with the rest of the group that toured in the bus. She also noticed the bus pulled up at the curb in the front of her house and smiled, thinking that her neighbors across the street would love it. They were such sticklers and strict neighbors that wanted the neighborhood to run their way only. Thankfully they hadn't won city commissioner.

"Hi Molly," she said, as she gave Molly a huge hug. 

"Hi Melinda. How are things going?" asked Molly.

"Hmm, Okay.. I guess. Just been running up and down all day for Fiona's big move and James isn't here."

James her husband, that was. He was off on a business trip and would be home later in the week. "He sends his regards." said Melinda as the rest of the gang started walking inside as she welcomed them.

In came Jack, whom she gave a huge hug and kiss, then Annie, then Carey, then Irene and finally Ned.

She hugged them all the same, including Annie, whom she didn't know very well but regarded her as family anyways.

"I'll go tell Fiona you're here."

"Let me tell her," answered Molly.

"Okay," nodded Melinda, as she headed up the stairs to the room that Fi had been living in, with Molly in tow.

The rest of the gang walked into the living room and sat down. Annie sitting next to Jack in the sofa, with Carey to their right. Ned and Irene sat in the love chair to their right, keeping the conversation light. 

"Fiona, there's somebody here to see you.." said Melinda, keeping her gaze on Fi as she turned around, flanked by both Maggie and Melissa.

When she turned around, she squealed with delight. She jumped up, practically knocking over Melissa and Maggie in the process. She ran straight towards her mother who was running into the room. Pretty soon the statements of how much they missed each other filled the room. 

They all started talking to each other, about how well the room looked and things like that when a scream of joy was overheard from the second floor. Jack stood up, waiting patiently as he could hear Fiona and his mother just hugging each other and crying with joy.

"Where's Jack," asked Fi, as she let go of her mom long enough to ask the question.

"He's downstairs, baby. I think maybe we should go downstairs."

"Hi Aunt Molly," said the twin girls in unison, stepping away from the background as they had been relegated to the blur of the bedroom that was Fiona's.

"Oh, hi girls" said Molly, "sorry I missed you guys," she said as she let go of Fiona and both little girls ran straight towards her. 

"It's okay," said Melissa as she hung on her Aunt Molly.

" We know how much you missed Fi," added Maggie as she held tight to her Aunt Molly. If truth be told, she was by far her favorite aunt. She loved her dad's side of the family but her mom had only had one brother and she, therefore, had only one Aunt Molly.

"You're right Molly," said Melinda, who had also been forgotten of by Fi and Molly. "We should go downstairs. I'm sure of one person who is anxiously waiting for you," she smiled as she let Fiona and Molly ahead of her, with the twins bringing up the rear.

She closed the door behind her and descended the stairs after everyone else. She was so happy that Fi and Molly had been able to see each other after such a long time. She could imagine what it must've felt like for Molly to not see her daughter for a whole year. Yikes

As Fiona descended the stairs, she was met by Jack. 

"Jack" she exclaimed, not knowing that she could miss her brother so much as she jumped the last steps of the staircase and threw herself against him.

"Fi" said Jack, as he almost lost his balance, swaggering back and trying to regain his balance when she threw herself around him, her arms wrapped around his neck, almost choking him from the force that she had used at first contact.

"I've missed you sooooo much," said Fiona, at least that's what it sounded like to Jack, as she head her face buried in his shoulder, aware that he also missed her a lot.

"Who knew I could miss my bratty sister so much," teased Jack as he could hear Fiona crying into his shoulders. Wow, more of an impression than he thought.

"Oh Jack.... I've missed you so much," relegated Fi as she unburied her face and looked up at Jack, tears streaming down her face.. Jack looked down with a kind smile and responded, "Yeah kiddo, me too." he said as he hugged her closer than ever.

He could really say that he had missed her. Even if she was always talking about weird stuff, he did love his sister and that kind of love was something you just got. Simple as that.

"Hey, how about the rest of us getting into the 'I'm happy to see you' reunion," whined Carey playfully as he came up behind Jack.

"Carey"

"Hey Fi I've missed hanging around with you," he said as Fiona broke her hug with Jack and hugged Carey tightly. "It hasn't been the same without your weird paranormal stuff all the time."

Next in line were Ned and Irene, who took turns hugging her and giving her a big kiss on the cheek.

"Have you been studying," teased Ned as he reminded her that he would soon be her tutor. 

"I've been tryin," said Fi, smiling at Ned and hugging him extra tight.

"It's so good to see you honey," said Irene, as she wrapped her arms around Fi and gave her a tight hug as she also swayed her lightly.

"Same here Irene. Same here."

And last, but not least, stood Annie with her blond ponytail. She just smiled shyly at Fi and stood back. She then approached Fi and gave her a big hug.

"Been keeping the paranormal stuff rampant?" asked Fi as Annie hugged her.

"What do you think?" responded Annie as she broke their hug.

"I think you have. And thanks for all the e-mails on the paranormal. I thought I'd die if I didn't hear of any weird stuff going on."

"Well, happy to oblige," laughed Annie as she held on to Fi's right arm whereas both turned around to face the group of people, who were also getting hellos from the twins. 

Both twins smiled at Carey, introducing themselves to him and asking him if he really played the guitar.

"Yeah, I do. Maybe I can play some songs for you two later on... Okay?"

"Yeah, Yeah," both girls chanted in unison.

"Okay girls," said Melinda, "why don't we all go to the dining room to get something to eat. You must be famished."

"Actually, I am," said Carey, not hiding his need for food as his stomach grumbled. He loved food and apparently, so did his stomach as he headed towards the kitchen, following Melinda and the twins. 

Everyone else laughed. "Well, now that I think about it, I am kind of hungry," offered Molly. That just brought up another round of laughter.

"I wouldn't mind getting something to eat. Something that I don't have to order through the mouth of a crazy looking clown," joked Ned as he followed Carey and was followed by both Molly and Irene. 

"Oh, Ned..." said Irene.

"What? a growing man has got to eat."

"Yeah Mom," shouted Carey from the kitchen.

"How does he do that," said Molly to Irene.

"Don't ask me... I just bore them." and with that, both Irene and Molly chuckled as they headed into the kitchen, their laughter wafting back to the living room.

"Yeah, me too..." said Jack. "How about you Annie?" turning around to face Annie who was still talking to Fi. 

"Um, what..." asked Annie, absentmindedly listening to Jack.

"I asked, are you hungry?"

"Um, yeah," she answered, flustered to find Jack looking at her as she looked up. Gawd, he was cute when he was annoyed she thought. Soon she was brought back to reality as Jack said something.

"Um, what?" she said, ashamed and embarrassed that she had been caught daydreaming. She shook her head, trying to clear those thoughts out of her brain.

"I said let's go. Geez Annie... You sure have been acting weird. No news there, though..." teased Jack as he looked at Fiona, who said she'd be there in a minute.

As he started walking off into the next room, Fi looked at Annie. She sure had been acting strange. She may not know her too well but she did know enough that Annie didn't act like that. Like something else was on her mind.

"What's wrong?" said Fi as she looked at Annie, a worried expression on her face.

"What.. Oh nothing.. Just been thinking about some stuff" said Annie, brought back to reality as she was forced to look at Fi.

"Really? Cause you know, if you got anything, you can talk to me. You do know that, right?" asked a semi-concerned Fi.

"Oh, yeah. I know that. It's just that something has been bugging me. It's nothing really."

"Well, what is it," said Fi, excitement dripping off her comment as she looked up at Annie. Maybe it was something paranormal that Annie hadn't had time to tell her about. Hmm, that would be so cool.

If only Fi knew what it was really about, thought Annie, as Fi looked at her expectantly. She didn't know whether or not she could really discuss this with her. Fi was a great friend and was probably the only person she could confide in her about the weird stuff that was always happening to her but telling her that she had feelings for Jack just didn't seem right. She didn't know how she would react to that. Maybe she'd be happy for her, and with that final thought she smiled.

"You're smiling. Am I right to assume that it's something important, or at least of a happy nature," said Fi.

"Well, it is something that could be good.. But I don't know.." answered Annie, her expression showing that the news was interesting.

"Well, tell me. Don't keep me anxiously waiting. Come on," gleed Fiona.

And just about, when Annie was going to start to tell her something.. "Weeeelll, you see.. It's like this.. There's this person...." Jack walked in, "Come on you two, Aunt Melinda is finishing up making the sandwiches and wants to know what you'd like." he said, directing his gaze towards Annie.

"Jack" crowed Fiona.

"What?" said Jack, stepping back a step and raising his hands. "I just came in here to tell you guys. What's your prob, Fi?"

"Oh, it's nothing really Fi. I'll tell you later. Okay?" said Annie, as Fi just looked at her in astonishment.

"Okay." said a crestfallen Fi. "But you will tell me later, right?" her hopes momentarily brought up.

"She will, she will. Now come on." said an impatient Jack, as he rounded near Fi and hugged her. "Besides, it's not everyday you get reunite with your brother. Right Annie?"

"Um, yeah." answered Annie, apparently becoming very aware of the nearness of Jack as he stood in the middle of her and Fi.

"Okay, come on .. Let's go" and with that, he rested his arms around Fi and Annie's shoulders and led them out of the living room.

Whew, that was close, thought Annie, with a sigh of relief as they headed into the kitchen. Too close.


End file.
